As a young man serving in the U.S. Army, and in an all male MOS (Military Occupational Specialty), 12B Combat Engineer, there were two things I never thought I would see happen in my life. The first is that homosexual soldiers would be able to serve openly; I saw some very good men discharged from the Army because they were gay, and I always thought that was wrong. The second? Women in combat engineer battalions.
I joined the Army in 1985, and after August 1 until I got to Airborne school in November 1985, I had not seen a woman. I lived in a testosterone-fueled world of combat engineers. The women that went through Airborne school with me? Well, I have to give them a load of respect. They were treated horribly. Every day, every woman was sent to the gig pit for extra PT (physical training). Out of the 12 women who started, only three finished.
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During my time in service about the only contact I had with female soldiers was in the hospital with nurses. I lived in an all-male world. We carried rifles, blew stuff up, and built bridges. We looked like the men in recruiting posters. At the time, we knew that women could not do our job for any number of reasons that we could come up with: they aren't strong enough, they can't lift the bridge parts, they aren't smart enough to do the math for explosives, they can't hump a rucksack like we can ... the list would go on and on, and generally got more and more vulgar as the conversation went on.
In that youthful, all-male world we forgot we had mothers, sisters, daughters, and wives.
Fast forward to 2015: The men I served with are going gray, and when we get together today the conversation is more likely boasting about our kids, or a fish we caught on vacation. We have grown up, we have all matured.
Today's soldiers are also leaps and bounds ahead of where we were so long ago. This past week a woman was named as the first female first sergeant of a combat engineer company. In the Army a first sergeant ...
... handles the leadership and professional development of their soldiers, non-commissioned officer development, manage pay issues, supervise administrative issues, manage the promotable soldiers within the company, and are the first step in disciplinary actions such as an Article 15 (non-judicial punishment) proceeding. A first sergeant may place a soldier under arrest in quarters in certain cases, as well as manage all of the daily responsibilities of running the company/unit.
A first sergeant, or "Top" as we called them, is the senior NCO in the company, and more often than not, the most trusted member of the company commander's staff. It is an understatement to say this is an important position in the command structure.
A female 1SG in a combat engineer company is something I never thought I would see in my lifetime. Now 1SG Raquel Steckman has a slightly different view on all of this:
"I just don’t think it’s a big deal. Why do you have to point out that I’m a freaking female? I’m trying to do a job here. It just blows my mind," said Steckman, now with the 374th Engineer Company (Sapper), an Army Reserve unit located in Concord, California.
I think 1SG Steckman will do us old engineers proud. ESSAYONS!